One significantly attractive feature in gaming is the opportunity to win a large amount of money or value without wagering a large amount in each play of a game. The development of the progressive jackpot based on contributory wagers has become an important attraction in most aspects of gaming. One of the most successful video or slot games has been the WHEEL OF FORTUNE® slot game, in which a small portion of each underlying wager is added to a progressively increasing jackpot. To enable contributions from the single wager, the payout frequency and payout amounts from the underlying game are reduced.
CARIBBEAN STUD® poker invigorated variant poker games by emphasizing a fixed side wager on a progressive jackpot. A portion of the side wager is put into a progressive jackpot, and payments are made for particularly high-ranking hands. All payments on such hands are specifically withdrawn from a monitored jackpot fund, and all contribution to the jackpot is made from a portion of the side wager, after an initial staking of the jackpot with seed money. All other payments on bonus level hands come out of the underlying ante and play wagers, while retaining profits for the casino. The success of these games has stimulated attempts at other progressive and side wagers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,863,041 (Boylan et al.) describes a method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering game, in which an ante wager is initially wagered and a bonus wager is also wagered by at least one player. Seven cards are then dealt to each player and to the dealer and arranged into a two-card low hand and a five-card high hand. The ante wager of each player is then paid off in the usual manner for Pai Gow poker. Thereafter, a best five-out-of-seven card poker hand is arranged by the dealer, for each player, from the seven cards initially dealt to the player, and the bonus wager is paid off if the best poker hand has a poker rank equal to or better than a first predetermined rank (e.g., a straight) but less than a second predetermined rank (e.g., a royal flush or five-of-a-kind in a wild card game).
Next, the dealer determines whether the best poker hand of each player has a poker rank better than or equal to the second predetermined rank, and an auxiliary game of chance, such as rolling three dice, is then played to determine whether the bonus wager is paid off at a first payoff rate, when the player is a loser in the auxiliary game, or at a second payoff higher than the first payoff rate, when the player is a winner in the auxiliary game. In addition, the dealer then determines whether each player has made a bonus wager of a predetermined minimum amount (exceeding the betting minimum), which is then paid off to other players if any other player has a best poker hand equal to or better than a third predetermined rank (four-of-a-kind) in an event called an “envy” event. The preferred method of play, described in Boylan et al., includes three separate potential payouts to each player making appropriate wagers as follows: 1) a payout on a standard Pai Gow player-versus-dealer wager; 2) a bonus payout on a bonus wager for a poker hand; and 3) an “envy” payout. Boylan et al. therefore discloses a three-tier payout Pai Gow game in which there are two distinct wagers. Those two wagers are a Pai Gow wager and the bonus wager. When the bonus wager is of sufficient size (more than a minimum payment), the bonus wager enables both best five-card poker hand bonuses and a “bad beat” bonus, each bonus event having different minimum ranks, although those ranks overlap.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,007,424 (Evers et al.) describes a method, device, and system for playing a new game of Pai Gow poker. For a push, the player's high hand must have a higher ranking than the dealer's high hand and be jacks or better. All other hands are losses. The method provides for greater payoffs if the player has one of a plurality of payoff qualifying holdings. The device includes a processor programmed to play the game according to the method. The system provides for linking devices to amass a progressive jackpot, should the player obtain a qualifying holding. At least one pre-determined holding of the player's high hand is designated as a qualifying “bad beat” combination. If the player obtains the bad beat combination and loses the hand, the player is paid an amount according to a payout schedule.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,472 (Ko) describes an improved game of Pai Gow, which improved game includes offering the player an optional bonus wager. Should the tiles of the player's hand match any predetermined bonus outcome tile combination, the player receives a reward for his or her bonus wager, regardless of whether or not the player has won his or her hand according to the rules of Pai Gow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,070,876 (Ko) describes an improved game of Pai Gow, which improved game includes offering the player an optional bonus wager. Should the tiles of the player's hand match any predetermined bonus outcome tile combination, the player receives a reward for his or her bonus wager, regardless of whether or not the player has won his or her hand according to the rules of Pai Gow. The game also provides the option to make a tie wager.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,103 (Mostashari) teaches a variation of Pai Gow poker known as Dragon Poker. A player posts a wager and is dealt a first four of seven cards face down. A bank is dealt a first four of seven cards, three of which are dealt face up. The player is then given an option of surrendering and receiving a return of a portion of the wager. With the surrender, the player's participation in the game is at an end. The player who does not surrender is a “surviving” player to whom may be given an option of increasing the wager. The surviving player and the bank are each dealt three additional cards to enable formation of a player back hand and a player front hand and formation of a bank back hand and a bank front hand. After the hands are formed, the wager is resolved.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,486 (Franklin) describes a method of playing a game of Pai Gow poker comprising a player placing a first wager; a player placing a jackpot bet; and a dealer dealing seven cards to himself and to said player. Each player arranges his/her cards into a low hand, including two of the seven cards, and a high hand, including five of the seven cards. Each player evaluates the cards and determines whether the cards comprise a predetermined jackpot holding of a low hand pair and a high hand of one of (i) four aces and the joker, (ii) a royal flush, (iii) a straight flush, (iv) a four-of-a-kind, (v) a full house, (vi) a flush, or (vii) a straight. Players are paid a jackpot amount if the player has a jackpot holding. The winner of the first wager is determined by comparing a low hand of the dealer to the low hand of the player and comparing a high hand of the dealer to the high hand of the player.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0084505 (Yoseloff et al.) describes a multi-player platform that provides multiple player positions for live players to engage in an interactive wagering game with a virtual dealer and virtual cards. The multi-player platform comprises at least two player positions that enable live players to place wagers on the game. The game comprises the following steps: placing a wager on a Pai Gow game using Pai Gow hands of seven cards; providing the player in the Pai Gow game with the opportunity to place a side wager, wherein the outcome of the side wager depends on achieving at least a predetermined minimum poker hand rank using the player's seven cards in the Pai Gow hand; providing cards to the player and the dealer to form the player's Pai Gow hand and the dealer's Pai Gow hand, respectively; resolving the Pai Gow game according to the rules of Pai Gow poker; determining the highest ranking poker hand possible using the cards in the player's Pai Gow hand, if the player placed the side wager; comparing the highest ranking poker hand with the predetermined minimum poker hand rank, if the player placed the side wager; and providing an award to the player, if the highest ranking poker hand is of equal or greater rank than the predetermined minimum poker hand rank.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0269783 (Snow) describes a method of playing a casino table wagering game with at least two players. The method comprises wagering on an underlying game, wherein players may receive a bonus for obtaining a player hand of at least a predetermined rank; placing a side wager that at least one player of the at least two players will obtain a player hand of at least a predetermined rank; playing a hand of the casino table wagering game to conclusion; determining whether at least one of the at least two players has obtained a player hand of the at least a predetermined rank; and, if a player has not obtained a player hand of at least a predetermined rank but that player has placed the side wager that at least one player of the at least two players will obtain a player hand of at least a predetermined rank, and if another player has obtained a player hand of at least a predetermined rank, awarding that player a predetermined proportional share of the bonus for obtaining a player hand of at least a predetermined rank.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0170875 (Snow) describes a method of playing a Pai Gow poker wagering card game. The method includes the following steps: a) a player placing a wager on a Pai Gow poker game; b) players placing a second wager against a pay table on a separate poker-type game that uses each player's best five-card hand; c) dealing seven-card hands from a set of cards to six player positions and to one dealer position; d) resolving the Pai Gow game and awarding bonuses to players making the second wager and having a best five-card hand that exceeds a predetermined rank; and e) awarding an additional bonus to players with hands that exceed the predetermined rank, if the dealer's best five-card hand is equal to or less than a predetermined rank. An optional envy hand event may be included with the second wager or a special qualifying second or third wager.
Another known modification of the Pai Gow poker game has been played at “Harvey's Resort and Casino” in Tahoe, Nev. In this modified game, a bonus wager is made (in addition to the ante wager in the usual game for the five-card hand rank and the two-card hand rank to be compared with those of the dealer). This bonus wager is won at odds if the player has any five cards (best five-card poker hand of the seven cards dealt) that together rank above a straight (with the odds increasing for increasingly ranked hands). In addition, if a player makes a bonus wager above $5 (5 times the minimum), that player can additionally win a predetermined payoff if any other player has any best five-card hand that forms a poker rank above a four-of-a-kind (with the payoff increasing for increasingly ranked hands). This type of payout is referred to in the industry as an “envy bonus.” Envy bonuses are typically won on another player's hand, not on one's own hand.
Although Pai Gow poker has achieved a level of success, such that it is present in most card rooms, it is desirable to provide additional features to the game that can make it even more attractive and successful.